


Different

by AutisticWriter



Series: Harry Potter Autistic Headcanons [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Ableism, Ableist Language, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Autism, Autism Spectrum, Autistic Arthur Weasley, Autistic Characters Written By An Autistic Author, Autistic Hermione Granger, Autistic Luna Lovegood, Autistic Neville Longbottom, Bullying, Crying, Diagnosis, Drabble Collection, Echolalia, Fainting, Femslash, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Headcanon, Hurt/Comfort, Imagination, Infodumping, Motion Sickness, Multi, Name-Calling, Neurodiversity, Post-Canon, Pride, Room of Requirement, Self-Harm, Sensory Overload, Sign Language, Slurs, Special Interests, Stim Toys, Stimming, Trust Issues, Vomiting, as in injuring yourself when overwhelmed, autistic headcanons, meltdowns, non-verbal episodes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-07-15 11:40:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7220896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticWriter/pseuds/AutisticWriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabbles focusing on my Harry Potter autistic headcanons.</p><p>Each chapter focuses on one of these four characters: Arthur Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arthur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ron observes his father's special interest.

Every Sunday morning, Ron Weasley would wander out into the garage, where he would find his father playing with his muggle objects. He would sit on the desk and watch his dad dismantle a toaster, or a watch, or something equally odd, watching with curious eyes as he rocked backwards and forwards in his seat and grinned delightedly, bouncing his legs up and down. Sometimes, he would mumble phrases under his breath, repeating the same words over and over.

Ron didn’t know why he loved muggle things so much, but it didn’t bother him. It was just what dad did.


	2. Hermione

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A diagnosis doesn't stop the bullying, but it can make you feel a lot better about yourself.

She was rude.

She was annoying.

She was a know it all.

She was a swot.

She liked to get involved in other people’s business.

She never stopped talking.

She had no friends.

A day never went by when Hermione didn’t hear one of these phrases, usually from the other students, but sometimes from the teachers. Everyone hated her, just because she was different.

But she didn’t know why she was so different.

Until, over three years later, she was diagnosed with autism.

And then, everything made sense. She suddenly had an explanation, and she didn’t feel so helpless anymore.


	3. Neville

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Social interaction is bloody difficult when you never know what's the right thing to say.

_“You know, if you're interested in plants, you should use_ Goshawk's Guide To Herbology. _There's someone in Tibet who's growing gravity resistant trees...”_

_“Neville, no offense, but I really don't care about plants.”_

Neville sighed, and pulled the bed sheets up over his head as he thought about his earlier conversation with Harry.

As always, he had said something wrong and annoyed someone.

Sometimes, it seemed like no one else cared about things as much as him, and he hated it.

And he also hated that everyone always told him to shut up when he was only trying to help.


	4. Luna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, your own imagination is the only respite you have from the real world.

Everyone called her ‘Loony Lovegood’. She couldn’t remember a time before that nickname had been attached to her, and, to be honest, she was used to it by now.

And, even though she didn’t understand why they called her a loony, she wasn’t really bothered by it, because she lived so much inside her own head.

Real life was awful, so she began to make up imaginary worlds, places where she could escape when the taunting got too much. But she found that retreating into her imagination made the name calling worse.

Sometimes, she felt like she just couldn’t win.


	5. Arthur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sensory overload: one of many things a non-autistic person can't understand.

As Harry took his seat in the top box at the Quidditch world cup, he noticed for the first time that Mr Weasley was wearing earmuffs. He bounced his legs up and down, and rocked slightly, and Harry could tell he was stressed out.

Harry watched Ginny pick up her dad’s hand and squeeze his fingers, smiling and saying things Harry couldn’t hear.

“Are you all right, Dad?” Fred asked, having to yell.

Mr Weasley nodded, smiling weakly, but when Ludo Bagman started to speak, he started chewing his nails so badly that his fingers ended up sore and bloody.


	6. Hermione

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Combing your special interest with stimming is an amazing sensory experience.

Hermione slowly made her way through Hogwarts’ magnificent library, staring around to look at as many things as one as possible. She stared around her with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, hardly able to believe how amazing this library was.

Raising one hand to her head and twirling her finger around and around a lock of her wild, curly hair, Hermione reached out carefully, and touched the spine of one of the old, leather books. It was sensory heaven, and, walking slowly forwards, she ran her fingers along the spines of the books, wishing she never had to leave.


	7. Neville

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sensory overload: take two.

The moment Neville entered the greenhouse and learned they were going to be working with Mandrakes, he felt sick. And when they first pulled them from their pots, the ear splitting screaming made him panic.

Even with the earmuffs, it was just so _loud._ His ears hurt, he wanted to cry, his head felt like it was going to burst, and then . . . everything went dark.

He woke up flat on his back, staring up at the greenhouse ceiling. He felt cold and sweaty. He was shaking.

“You fainted, Neville,” Hermione said, helping him to sit up.

Of course he did.


	8. Luna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luna Lovegood: not giving a shit about what neurotypicals think since 1981.

Even though she liked to pretend that she missed her shoes, secretly, Luna hated them, and was glad that they had been stolen, because she now had an excuse to go barefoot.

She loved walking barefoot. She loved the coldness that spread through the soles of her feet, she loved the springiness and dampness of the dewy fields early in the morning, she loved digging her toes into the earth, and she especially loved that her feet weren’t restricted, and her toes were able to wiggle freely.

It made even more people call her a weirdo, but she didn’t care.


	9. Arthur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Motion sickness can make an already unpleasant experience about a million times worse.

“Are you ready?” his mother said, smiling like he wasn’t going to be trying something dangerous for the first time.

Seventeen year old Arthur Weasley wasn’t really ready, but he nodded. And, with a crack, Arthur disaparated.

He materialised downstairs in the kitchen. His head was spinning. His stomach felt like it was doing flips inside him. His ears rang, and his vision went black around the edges. Doubling over, Arthur vomited all over the floor, and then everything went dark.

He woke up feeling horribly dizzy, his mother standing over him.

“Maybe apparating isn’t for you, dear,” she said.


	10. Hermione

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The right kind of support during a meltdown can be rather helpful.

“Are you all right?”

Those were the last words Hermione had expected to hear. Sobbing silently, Hermione stopped hitting her forehead against her knees, and looked up. Floating above the cubical door was the ghost of a teenage girl.

Unable to speak, Hermione simply nodded her head.

“You’re not, are you?”

Sighing shakily, she shook her head.

“Don’t worry, I come here to cry too. Would you like some company?”

Nodding, Hermione started to rock backwards and forwards, still crying and having a meltdown from the stress of homework, but feeling a little better with the ghost floating beside her.


	11. Neville

Neville sat up in bed, his sheets pulled up over his head, his wand tip lit and bathing him in light, reading the book on water plants Professor Moody had given him. It was absolutely fascinating; he found himself smiling as he read, joyfully taking in all the new information.

He only realised how long he had been reading when his eyes started to burn with fatigue; looking up, he saw it was light outside.

From his bed, Dean was smiling at him like he was incredibly amused.

“Been up all night reading, Neville?” He yawned.

Neville nodded, grinning bashfully.


	12. Luna

The third time Luna hurried along the same corridor, her chest tight like she was about to have a meltdown, she found a doorway had appeared. Curious, she entered.

This room was small and wonderfully quiet; closing the door, she found that it was totally silent. The floor was covered in soft, squishy cushions.

Luna sat down on the cushioned floor, and curled up on the floor, beginning to cry and rock from side to side.

When the meltdown was over, she found a jug of her favourite juice had appeared. She slowly sipped it, wondering what this place was.


	13. Arthur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No matter how many times you face ableism, it still hurts.

Once they were back at The Burrow, Mr Weasley burst into tears.

“Arthur, darling, what’s the matter?” Mrs Weasley cried, bustling into the kitchen.

Without waiting for an answer, she wrapped her arms around him and rocked him from side to side.

“Harry’s uncle called Dad a ‘retard’,” Fred muttered, cracking his knuckles.

Mrs Weasley gasped. “Why?”

“Because he’s a git!” Ron yelled, and Harry nodded violently.

“Come on, Arthur, it’s all right,” Mrs Weasley said, stroking her husband’s hair. He sobbed into her shoulder, and Harry wondered if this wasn’t the first time someone had said that to him.


	14. Hermione

When she got into bed on her first night at Hogwarts, Hermione regretted leaving her weighted blanket at home. She just couldn’t sleep without the comforting pressure.

After a whole week of barely sleeping, the stress finally got to her, and she burst into tears in the middle of her Transfiguration lesson. She ended up in McGonagall’s office; the professor listened to her problem, and, after calming her down, insisted that Hermione’s parents send her blanket.

She felt sorry for the owls that had to carry the blanket, but it was worth it to finally get a good night’s sleep.


	15. Neville

“Hello, Neville?”

Sat in the corner of the library, subtly rocking in his seat, Neville stopped picking at his nails and looked up as he heard the familiar voice. Floating before him was Nearly Headless Nick. Neville smiled weakly.

“Hello, Sir Nicholas.”

Nick looked at him. “Are you all right?”

“Not really,” he said, sighing.

“Do . . . you want to talk about it?”

Neville told him everything. About how his whole house had ostracised him, about how his homework was so difficult and he was failing Potions, and about how everything was so stressful.

And Nick just sat there and listened.


	16. Luna

“Why do you want to be my friend?” Luna asked, and she couldn’t quite keep the suspicion out of her voice.

“Because I like you,” Ginny said. “I think you’re nice.”

“No one else likes me,” Luna mumbled. “Everyone thinks I’m weird. They all call me a Loony.”

Ginny nodded, obviously having noticed everyone else in their year calling her that name.

“I know. But I don’t think you’re weird.”

“Really?”

Ginny grinned. “Yeah.”

“Really?”

“Yes, silly.” Ginny said.

Luna gave her a small smile in return. “Thank you.”

And that was how Luna Lovegood made her first ever friend.


	17. Arthur

“Autism?” Arthur said, and he might as well have been speaking in a foreign language for all the sense it made to him.

“Yes, Mr Weasley,” the healer explained. “It’s a disability the Muggles started to recognise as early as the 1940s, but we wizards are a little behind. But we are beginning to broaden our understanding, and are working to support the witches and wizards who have gone undiagnosed for all these years.”

“And... I’m one of them?”

The healer nodded his head. “Yes, Mr Weasley. You are autistic.”

Amazed and relieved, Arthur smiled, and Molly squeezed his hand.


	18. Hermione

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When your world has such shocking rights for neurodiverse people, the only way to change things is to bring up the problems yourself.

“When I was young, I went to a Muggle school. The teachers understood my autism, and helped me cope with the difficulties I faced.

“When I went to Hogwarts, however, I realised how differently the wizarding world treats developmental disabilities. After a while, I came to the conclusion that wizards were lacking understanding.

“And this needs to change. We need to accept our differences and help the disabled population the same way the Muggles do. And we neurodivergent wizards need to stand together, and show that we do exist.”

To deafening applause, Hermione smiled and stepped down from the podium.


	19. Neville

It was the second day of term, and Neville found himself desperate for the post owls to arrive, as he knew he would be getting back something important that he left at home. Soon, they arrived, and _two_ owls landed in front of him.

Neville scrabbled to open the box, and found his Sensory Survival Kit. He sighed in relief as he looked at each important item: his ear defenders, the weights to put in the pockets of his robes, his fiddle toys.

He may have been anxious, but he would be a lot better now he had his things.


	20. Luna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This drabble features established Luna/Ginny.

“And... this is a little something extra,” Ginny said, taking her last birthday present out of the bag.

Luna took the tiny, wrapped package from her wife’s outstretched hand. Carefully, she unwrapped it. She found a pin badge with a rainbow patterned figure-of-eight on it, an image otherwise known as the neurodiversity symbol.

And then she looked at Ginny, a smile spreading across her face.

She was nonverbal today, but that wasn’t a problem, as they had perfected communication methods for all occasions. So Luna signed her thanks ( _I love it_ ), and Ginny, who was grinning, signed back: _You’re welcome_.


End file.
